Your best or longest aviation daytrip!

Both your flights ran well ahead of schedule, Rick! 😀

Thats right..

We left 10 minute earlier than the scheduled outbound time arriving approx 25 minutes early… and the inbound leg we arrived around 7 minutes early due to a 10-15 minute delay at DUB..

Luckly Ryanair allocate more time than the fligth time which always helps them to keep ontime,.,.

Cheers

Rick

Both your flights ran well ahead of schedule, Rick! 😀

Im off to Dublin in the morning for the day with member *ALLIANCE..

Just doing a cheap day trip with FR from LBA..

Cheers

Rick

Just returned an hour or so ago…

Had a great day out…. FR proved once again to run ontime hassle free..

Cheers

Rick..

I did SOU – DUS for a day a couple of years ago with 2 friends. It was a significant birthday for one of them and I organised the trip and his wife conspired to get him up and ready. He was a tad shocked when I picked him up and we managed to keep the destination from him until the flight was called.

I also did LGW – Alicante in a day on the flight deck of a Laker Bac1-11 in Nov 1979 – now that was fun!

Im off to Dublin in the morning for the day with member *ALLIANCE..

Just doing a cheap day trip with FR from LBA..

Cheers

Rick

Sad and Exciting Fürstenfeldbruck 1976

1976 will always be remembered for the Terrorist Atrocity at the Munich Olympics.
Much of the Olympic specific traffic was routed into the German Air Base at Fürstenfeldbruck.

A BCAL VC10 was sub-chartered to bring home some British Visitors to the Games and I was drafted to do the Loadsheet both ways, so I travelled with the Aircraft. Inbound we taxied past the wrecked Helicopters and arn on tostand.

With only (from memory) 69 Passengers who only had light baggage, the VC10 was hardly loaded and the turnaround was around 20 minutes.

After taxying out, once again past the sombre sight of the wrecked heliopters, we lined up and as Fürstenfeldbruck had NO Noise Abatement restrictions, plus we cleared to climb directly to cruise altitude, it was the only time I was in a VC10 that literally ‘rocketed off the runway and just kept going’. We didn’t kevel off until 42,000 feet (from Memory). A Hecules which took off behind us (say two minutes) was stil under Fürstenfeldbruck ATC for a long time after we were at cruise. It didn’t seem anytime at all before we began to descend and from top descent to landing seemed to take as long as the rest of the flight.
From once aspect a sad trip, but one I got paid for and a really exciting ride.

Well I managed a trip a few years back within 24 hours to the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) and back which went a bit like this.

11am Railway Tavern in Hungerford – having a couple of last pints before
another 6 month stint saying cheerio to landlord

3pm ish??? Dep LHR

11.30pm ish??? Arr Jeddah

2am ish??? – Dep Jeddah having been deported – BA held aircraft to wait for
myself and another deportee

11am Railway Tavern in Hungerford – landlord said as I walked in “I thought
you were going back to Saudi?”

The deportation was extemely unpleasant and my left arm was still shaking when we arrived back in Heathrow.

Hi UPSMD11F.

Yea that particular trip was back in April 2006 if i recall.

As far as my thoughts on Warsaw, well i never left the airport, and it was dark by the time i landed so i cant really give an opinion. The airport was good though, if a little inefficient. I remember big lines at security and a very long bus transfer to a remote stand. I must say though, LOT were very good, and a very nice aircraft too.

How did you like Warsaw ALLIANCE?
When was this as i think Lot no longer serves MAN in fact WAW-MAN is no longer operated by any airline.

I have had many great day trips, my most memorable and varid was my first ever Mileage Run.

I took a F-100 from Manchester to Zurich with Helvetic. Then onto a A320 with Swiss to Austria where I had a few hours to kill. After this I flew onto Warsaw with Tyrolean on one of there CRJ-200s. After a very brief stop in Poland it was back to MAN with LOT on one of there E-170s. I think the day trip was about 14hrs either on planes or in airports. Perfect!!!!!!

I think my most enjoyable day of shooting aviation has to be when myself and fellow forum members Adam Spalding and Tom Gautier arrived at Funchal in December last year. We landed at around 6pm and spent the rest of the evening virtually drooling over the awesome opportunities for night shots. The fact there’s a bar up on the terrace as well helped! We’re going back to Madiera on the 14th November, so it’s all going to be repeated again!

As for other enjoyable days, I’ve had countless superb shooting sessions at MAN (which is probably my favourite airport for aviation photography). Many good days at AMS and DUB, and I have to say, some of my favourite days have been spent at my humble local of LBA.

I’m not sure what the longest has been, but I’ve done a good few days where I’ve done 4 flights in a day. Routes like LBA-AMS-LTN-AMS-LBA, LBA-AMS-LPL-AMS-MAN and one with Key’s very own bright ginger member Tom Morley, where we did LBA-BFS-STN-DUB-LBA. That was a particularly silly day as I’m sure Tom will remember, and getting Ryanair’s Dreamliner on the STN-DUB sector was a bonus!

Paul

Most Interersting and Best

Most Interesting (I thought it would cost me my Job)
Back in the mid seventies I went for a Beer and ended up in Manchester via Palma.

Mate picked up at the House for an early evening Beer, we had to go to Gatwick to pick up another friend. After parking the Car in a staff Car Park, went into the Terminal to wait while the Shift Finished. Instead our Friend arrived with a female colleague, waving 4 Charter Tickets and said ‘How about a VC10 Ride to Palma”.

Quick Check we had our Passports (we all carried them in those days) and boarde the BCAL VC10 which had been sub-chartered to do a 4S Flight.
Off we went, nice Flight and arrive PMI. Dodge questions from Immigration and recheck-in and back to the Departure lounge, which is where we stayed all night.

Fog had rolled in at Gatwick and that was that! As I was on duty at 0700, I was getting nervous (as was the Lady as she hadn’t told Hubbie she was off with 3 Blokes to PMI). We finally departed in Bright Sunshine, but as we flew over the UK, there was no start of descent, instead an annoucement that due the continuing fog at Gatwick the Flight was diverting to Manchester.

We arrived at an crowded Manchester and parked on the Taxyway next to a Donaldson’s 707. This supplied some amusement as the overwing emergency exit suddenly opened and some student types clambered onto the wing, shortly followed by a Donaldsons Hostie in her stockinged feet to shepherd them back-in.

Finally deplaned, managed a quick telephone call and then we hitched a ride back to Gatwick on an empty positioning BCAL 707. I Arrived at 1500 (end of my shift). Flight met by an assistant supervisor who looks could have killed. But I didn’t lose my Job and (there was no divorce either).

Best
Back in the early 1990’s had a meeting with Aer Lingus in Dublin to discuss a project. So took the morning Virgin (City) Bae146 out of LCY. Meeting went well and lasted until lunch. Aer Lingus with typical irish hospitality therefore took us out to lunch, which lasted a very, very long time and involved copious amounts of Beer. I have no memory of the return Flight.

I live in the southern U.S. and did a down and back to Grand Cayman a year or two ago on the jumpseat and managed to snap this pic over the Captains left shoulder with my cellphone. The bungee for his earpiece cord kind of obscures it but I thought it was cool nonetheless.

Note: 7000 ft runway with water off the end and no taxiways….must back taxi on the runway. We got a flight idle descent from FL380 and were cleared to land a long way out due to no other traffic. When we departed an hour later, we were cleared to takeoff and climb to FL390. Kinda strange to have such unrestricted clearances nowadays…don’t often get a clearance to FL390 from the tower.

Hand carries 101.

Is that kind of thing still done today tenthije, didnt think you were suppose to take/carry items for other people, and nowadays it has to go by cargo doesnt it?

Still, what an amazing job that must be, even better if you get to travel business/first class?

Yeah those are still done. You are right that one is not allowed to bring items on board not packed yourself. However, the airline ticket would be on the name of the company (DHL). The passenger flying has to carry documentation proving employment with DHL. This document comes along with the usual cargo documents like a freight-manifest, dangerous goods declaration (if applicable), etc.

I am not exactly sure on the proceedings, as I am not in the air department myself. However, the way I understand the proces is that the cargo will go through regular freight channels, including customs and safety checks. This is done at the bonded (airside) warehouse of DHL or our local partner. Instead of being put on container it will go from the cargo terminal (airside) to the passenger terminal (airside). There our flyer will collect the parcel(s). He will then proceed to customs to get some more stamps and documents approving the parcel into the cabin.

Upon arrival the freight will have to be customs cleared again. This is often a time consuming process. Customs at the passenger terminal will tell you to take the cargo to the cargo customs. The cargo customs will tell you to take your carry-on to the passenger terminal. And thus a nice merry-go-round starts. That is of course assuming you can get to the cargo terminal in the first place. If that is not possible you will have to wait for a customs officials to come over from the cargo area. Of course in our case it helps a lot that we got offices at most mayor airports. Our customer is near the airport, so a short taxi ride or waiting DHL van will then do the final delivery.

As for flying first/business, most of the time that would indeed be done. Not so much for the passenger’s sake, but for the cargo’s sake. Weight allowance “up front” is more generous, as is the space available which is handy if you want to bring your parcel into the cabin!

Hand-carrys are usually small, not too heavy and often quite valuable. You may not believe it, but sometimes a handcarry is done for cheap articles as well. For instance a box of screws you could buy at your local B&Q. This is mostly done if said screws have to meet exact specifications, like for instance in the automotive or aviation branch. If an accident where to happen, and the fault traced back to the B&Q-screws instead of approved screws, well… let’s just say the lawyers would be working double shifts.

For bulky stuff we will book space on a cargo plane. If required we will even charter a full plane, all the way up to Antonov 124s. Flying anything is rather expensive (I won’t go into rates, as you’ll no doubt understand), so we book ocean container whenever the desired transit times make this possible.

I totally agree 😀

Dublin is a good choice, Ryanair seeming to offer plenty of cheap flights from most of the UK.

Indeed, I’m off for a day trip to Dublin £8.00 thanks Ryanair 🙂

I’m actually doing the Arrecife trip again on the 16th of November but this time from Manchester which is slightly closer to home. Out on Thomas Cook back on Jet2.

In August I did WAW-EMA-MAN(2 days)-EMA-WAW.
I recommend Warsaw to visit for a day trip.There are some interesting movements UPS MD11f daily as well as Aeroflot and Polish Government TU-154’s.Also get some good flights from Egypt and Turkey.Flights available with Wizzair(LPL,DUR,LTN,DSA) Easyjet(LTN,BRS)BmiBaby(BHX,EMA)Norwegian(BHX) and of course LOT and BA for LHR and LGW.

Ive been reading through this thread and thinking and im fascinated by how easy it is to travel in this day and age. By reading some of your experiances i really would like to try a day trip to somewhere myself if i could get a cheap flight just to say ive done it. Can anyone recommend anywhere? My only worry though is if you get delayed going out thats your day ruined.

Sorry forgot to mention i would be departing from either manchester or liverpool.:)

I’d suggest doing a UK or Ireland day trip first, Heathrow is good, you can easily connect on the underground to Hatton Cross for some spotting at Myrtle Avenue and wander around the engineering area roads to see what’s going on. I used to enjoy a day trip to Gatwick as well before the viewing area got closed. Dublin is another popular choice, worth it for a nice cold Guinness in the airport bar on the way home. 😀

Quite alot of trips to Bristol, Stansted and Amsterdam for me this year.

I had a trip where I started off in Portugal in the morning (end of holiday!), was home just after lunch, quick change of bag and then back to the Airport and off to Amsterdam!

Bizarrely I have a rather mammoth trip coming up soon too, Dominican Republic > Home > either AMS or LHR > Chicago or Detriot> Minneapolis St Paul!!

Why my holidays have to end the same day I have to do something major for work, I do not know!!

Came somewhat close to doing a handcarry from China to Europe.

Is that kind of thing still done today tenthije, didnt think you were suppose to take/carry items for other people, and nowadays it has to go by cargo doesnt it?

Still, what an amazing job that must be, even better if you get to travel business/first class?